1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to inserters and more particularly to inserter feeder assemblies.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Inserters have played a significant role among the labor saving devices available to businesses which are engaged in the daily mailing of large numbers of pieces. Among the advantages of inserter usage has been the reduction in personnel required to process large quantities of outgoing mail. Further, mail room personnel have been relieved of the monotonous task of individually stuffing seemingly insurmountable numbers of envelopes. Inserters have been particularly well adapted for use in the mailing of form letters and the like and have been employed for the insertion of personalized documents, e.g. computer generated checks, cards, etc., into window envelopes.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,914,895 issued Dec. 1, 1959 to Samuel W. Martin and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, an envelope inserter having a reciprocating ram blade for inserting enclosures into opened envelopes was described. A sheet feeding assembly was detachably mounted to the inserter and included a sloped tray which carried a stack of sheets. A feed roller was carried on a shaft which extended above the tray. The feed roller included a pair of spaced frictional drive portions, and a frictional separator element projected from beneath the tray to cooperate with the feed roller.
Such feeder assembly was typical among the Pitney Bowes Serial 3300 inserters. In the Pitney Bowes Model 3320 Insertamate inserter, a pair of enclosure feeder assemblies were provided, and a transport pathway carried enclosures from one feeder assembly to a pick-up area forward of another enclosure feeder assembly. The feeder assemblies included various modifications from the initial design as disclosed in the Martin patent (supra), however the basic mode of operation remained substantially consistent.
Among the problems encountered with the feeder assemblies on the Model 3320 inserter were difficulties in adjusting enclosure side guides which engaged the sides of the stack of materials being fed. The adjustment procedure included taking a sample enclosure or envelope and folding it in half, placing the folded edge along the center line of the feeder tray, then unlocking the rear side guide lock knob which was located beneath the tray and moving the rear side guide up to the open edges of the folded material. Thereafter, the folded sheet material was unfolded and positioned on the feed deck, the rear side guide locked and the front side guide unlocked from underneath the tray. The front guide was then set to accommodate the unfolded material and then locked.
Additional difficulties were encountered with regard to the separator which cooperated with the feed wheel from beneath the tray. The separator employed in the Model 3320 inserter comprised of three-fingered stone which was secured beneath the tray and projected upwardly through apertures in the tray in staggered registration with projecting frictional portions of the drive wheel. A shield was slid over the stone to control the amount of stone surface exposed. To adjust the shield, it was necessary to locate the shield beneath the tray and manually grasp a portion of the shield sliding same relative to the stone. Precision shield adjustments were difficult to attain. Adjustment of the separator stone required the operator to reach beneath the feeder tray to grasp and turn an adjustment screw. It could well be appreciated that these adjustment procedures were awkward and presented substantial difficulties for some mail room personnel.
In the event a user desired to employ an inserter for feeding end folded materials, e.g. checks with attached stubs, it was desirable to have the feed roller positioned off center so that it engaged enclosures at the doubled over thickness to eliminate peeling during the feeding and separating operations. Unfortunately, feeder assemblies were not adjustable to provide for off-center feeding and a separate offset feeder was required to be employed.
A further problem encountered with prior feeder assemblies related to the first station feeder assembly of the Model 3320 inserter. This feeder assembly was positioned over a transport pathway which carried enclosures from a second station feeder assembly. A pair of spring biased skis were mounted beneath the tray of the first station feeder assembly and engaged the upper surface of enclosures passing along the pathway to urge the enclosures against a pair of parallel spaced transport belts.
Since the feeder assemblies were separate units individually attachable to the inserter, improper registration between the skis carried by the feeder assembly and the transport belts often occurred. Unfortunately, the skis were not readily adjustable to correct for misalignment.